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Tynan squeezes her hand. I clench my jaw so hard, I nearly grind my teeth into powder.
After stalking across the pub, I yank out the stool beside the big wizard. It screeches across the old stone floor. Everyone nearby turns to stare—except Kari.
To my left, the flames in the brick hearth ward off the coming winter’s chill. Heavy alternative rock plays in the background as a group of wizards laughs at their attempts to play billiards without magic. Human females at the end of the bar toast with stout red wine. But when I set eyes on Kari, everyone else falls away.
She commands my attention and hypnotizes me with a smile that shines as brightly as her golden hair. Her otherworldly blue eyes that seem to take up half of her sweet face suck me in. One glance and I’m panting. My cock is hard as steel.
There is something about her I can’t pinpoint. If I could, maybe I could rid myself of this odd obsession. In the two years since I first set eyes on this woman, it’s only grown.
“Kari?”
Slowly, the other wizard releases her with a nod, as if he’s grudgingly giving her permission to greet me. With a sigh, she tears her attention from Tynan.
Is she fucking the wanker? Is she in love with him? The questions scream through my brain like a battle cry.
“Ronan.” She slides closer. “A scotch?”
“Double, no rocks.” I glance at Tynan. “New…friend?”
“I see your brother has already made yours for the night.” She peers over my shoulder at my twin with a sarcastic twist of her pretty mouth. “I hope you’re in the mood for a brunette. It appears she’s yours by default. Raiden always takes the redheads.” Then she looks at her watch and whistles. “Wow. Three minutes. That’s a record, even for him.”
I grimace. I don’t like coming here to find women, but Raiden insists nowhere else is more expedient or target rich.
“I don’t care who he’s found. He can have them both. I came for you,” I confess.
“We’ve been over this.” Kari reaches behind her for a glass on the shelf. “No.”
“Why?” Given her closeness to Tynan, it’s not because I’m a wizard.
“Don’t ask me again. Please.” She slams the glass on the well-worn bar between us.
I grab her hands. They’re soft, despite being slightly work-roughened. At a mere touch, desire burns, dismantling my composure. I ache to see her long fingers wrapped around my cock or feel her short, practical nails digging into my back as I fuck her hard. “You’re a fever to me. I need to touch you.”
“That line work for you often?”
Kari thinks my choked admission is a ploy? “I’m telling you the bloody truth.”
She shakes her head, curls brushing the pert breasts I’ve fantasized about touching, and extracts her hands to fill my glass of scotch. She shoves it my way. “Like any fever, you’ll recover. That’ll be twelve pounds.”
Swallowing a curse, I slide human money across the bar. “I just want to talk to you.”
“You want to shag me. And then forget me as you have every woman you’ve met here for the past two years. You have too many notches on your bedpost, and the line to be next is too long. No, thank you.”
With that, she turns her attention back to Tynan.
Bugger!
Raiden motions me over. I grab my drink and slide off my stool.
Kari huffs and turns away. Under her seeming dismissal, I glimpse her hurt. It nearly fells me. If only she would give me a chance… Then again, even if she did, where would it lead? Outside of the mate bond, magickind doesn’t subscribe to the human notion of monogamy. And Wolvseys don’t mate. It’s better for everyone.
Swallowing my frustration, I turn and paste on the expected smile. The brunette my brother procured for me is pretty enough. Nice mouth. Pert breasts. Still, if my magic didn’t require the energy derived from frequent sex, I wouldn’t bother. Perhaps I’ll be able to close my eyes and pretend she’s Kari. It would hardly be the first time. But now that wizards seemingly aren’t off Kari’s to-do list, I shouldn’t…but I’m determined to make her mine—at least for a night.
* * *
Kari
With the slam of the door, Ronan Wolvsey and his date disappear for the night, assaulting me with an all-too-familiar pain. I’m gutted each time he leaves with another woman, knowing he’ll pleasure her while I toss alone in my bed, wanting his heart and devotion—things he’ll never give any one woman.
